It’s one of the most infamous chapters in the housing-market meltdown, but Democrats apparently don’t want to shine on a light on Countrywide Mortgage’s Friends of Angelo program. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent written requests for the records to Bank of America, which bought the bankrupt Countrywide after the housing-bubble collapse, but Issa’s counterpart on the House Oversight Committee, Edolphus Towns (D-NY), refused to co-sign the letter:
The top Republican on the House Oversight panel is seeking all documents related to a high-profile VIP program at now-defunct mortgage lender Countrywide Financial that benefited a slew of government officials, including two Democratic senators.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is requesting by Wednesday eight years’ worth of documents related to the “Friends of Angelo” program, named after Countrywide’s then-CEO, Angelo Mozilo. The program allegedly offered better loan terms or waived fees for influential borrowers, such as Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Chris Dodd (Conn.).
Issa’s written request to Bank of America, which acquired Countrywide Financial, comes without the signature of Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.). Issa’s staff said it was recently told that Towns would not sign the letter, an Issa spokesman said.
“Currently the chairman is focused on the financial crisis and stimulus oversight,” Jenny Rosenberg, Towns’s spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail.
Gee, now they’re too busy to worry about the “culture of corruption”? When did that happen? Oh, right, when it turned out that most of Angelo’s “friends” were Democrats.
Nothing to see here, apparently. Move along.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member